Whats even worse is that so far no one in a AU has ever won a Bathurst race or championship.

However the AU2/AU3 is actually being raced - it's just that Ford won't change the front bumper/grill.
If you look closely at Lowndes's car you will notice that it has AU2 tail lights and boot garnish.
The structure is also AU2 aswell - if you look closely at the B-pillars from the inside you will notice that they are actually thicker than the AU1, which is an area where Ford improved side impact safety on the AU2.

Originally posted by AlbertM Does it really make that much of a difference? The body shell hasn't changed with the XR's, with the exception of the spoilers.

I VERY MUCH disagree. That's like saying the AU1 and AU2/3 XRs on the road are hardly changed. The fact is the headlight surrounds and three bar grille make a huge difference to the looks of the car (namely it makes the car look more aggressive and masculine). On the racecar the bottom spoiler wouldn't change - just the grille and headlight surrounds. Sounds minor, but I'll bet it would look HEAPS better.

Besides, isn't V8 Supercars a marketing tool? How long has it been since AU1 was on a dealer's lot as a new car?

The change for V8Supercars would have only amounted to grill & headlight surrounds ( & tailights?) so I don't know why they didn't bother, but...

I reckon only the hardcore Ford enthusiasts (ie. us) would have noticed anyway, not the 99% of punters. Especially under the teams colour schemes. So I don't think it really matters.

As for the AU 2/3 shell being used I hardly think that matters either. Have a look in the latest Street Machine magazine. It has an article showing the Barg's Commodore being put back together after it's BIG shunt. All V8Supercars are basically a floorpan (which some people tell me is now common ???) and a cage. The panels (sides/roof/guards/doors/boot/bonnet etc) all go on from there. V8Supercar is already largely a silohette formula and becoming more so each passing year.